NEW YORK, NY – March 8, 2018 – Today MPA—The Association of Magazine Media released the January 2018 Magazine Media 360° Brand Audience Report revealing that Total Audience is steady compared to January a year ago (-0.5%) for the 118 magazine brands in the analysis.

“Year-after-year we continue to see total magazine media audiences grow, proving that consumers don’t choose one format at the expense of another, rather they enjoy magazine content across platforms,” said Linda Thomas Brooks, president and ceo of MPA—The Association of Magazine Media.

The greatest growth came from Video (+13.0%), a trend that has been consistent in recent years as magazine brands invest in this platform. The January 2018 Print+Digital audience remains essentially flat (-1.7%) versus January 2017. The Web (Desktop/Laptop) audience continues to decline (-5.5%) as people migrate to Mobile, although that shift appears to be leveling off.

The Mobile Web audience results, however, have become unpredictable month-over-month. “After two-and-a-half years of double-digit growth—from the mid-2014 launch of Magazine Media 360° through the end of 2016—the 2017 Mobile Unique Visitor counts for our reported magazine media brands showed erratic gains and losses in consecutive reporting,” according to Jeri Dack, director of research initiatives, MPA—The Association of Magazine Media. “We cannot identify any underlying business reasons for such wild fluctuations, leading us to believe that these results are mostly caused by two methodological changes in comScore’s Mobile Metrix during 2017.”

The start of 2018 shows a minor gain in Mobile Web audience (+1.6%). “We believe that the new ComScore numbers adjust for bots and other fraudulent activity—a good thing for sure—but it makes reporting percent changes less useful than looking at actual mobile audience numbers, which are a huge and growing part of the magazine media business,” added Thomas Brooks.

The chart below illustrates how the different platform growth rates have altered the media mix for magazine brands over the last three years, while at the same time growing audiences overall.

“Within the Magazine Media 360° ecosystem, we see the increasing emphasis on the Mobile Web and Video platforms in both audience size and percentage of the mix,” noted Dack. “Print+Digital may hold a smaller percentage of the pie, but the overall audience size has grown. Conversely, we are seeing that Web (Desktop/Laptop) is shrinking in both in size and importance.”

About Magazine Media 360°
Magazine Media 360° captures demand for magazine media content by measuring audiences across multiple platforms and formats (including print+digital editions, websites and video) to provide a comprehensive and accurate picture of magazine media vitality. Magazine Media 360° uses data from leading third‐party providers and currently covers nearly 120 magazine media brands from 26 companies, representing 95% of the reader universe. The data is released toward the end of each month at www.magazine.org in The MPA Magazine Media 360° Brand Audience Report. Created as a credible, consistent and cost‐free measurement tool, Magazine Media 360°, which launched September 2014, marked the first time ever any media industry measured and communicated cross‐platform consumer demand by brand. The Magazine Media 360° Social Media Report is released separately.

Magazine Media 360° Methodology
Data for The MPA Magazine Media 360° Brand Audience Report is collected by MPA – The Association of Magazine Media from participating brands who provide their third‐party data to MPA around the 15th of every month for the previous month’s activity. Participating brands must be tracked in GfK MRI's Survey of the American Consumer® (print+digital editions) or the Ipsos Affluent Survey USA as well as any or all of web (desktop/laptop), mobile web, and/or video as reported by comScore.

About MPA
MPA – The Association of Magazine Media is the primary advocate and voice for the magazine media industry, driving thought leadership and game‐changing strategies to promote the industry’s vitality and increase its revenues and market share. Established in 1919, MPA represents 200 domestic, associate and international members. MPA is headquartered in New York City, with a government affairs office in Washington, D.C.